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Monday, October 17, 2016

Woman Formerly Residing in Maryland Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering in Connection with International Lottery Fraud Scheme

Samaiyah Sharron Armistead, who currently resides in Las
Vegas, Nevada, pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the District
of Maryland to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, the
Department of Justice announced.The
money laundering was part of an international lottery fraud scheme involving
co-conspirators in Florida and Jamaica.

As part of her guilty plea, Armistead agreed that had the
case gone to trial, the United States would have proved beyond a reasonable
doubt that in February 2014, she received $7,500 in cash at the direction of a
co-conspirator and then deposited most of that money into two bank accounts
controlled by the co-conspirator.In
addition, Armistead received $32,500 in cash on April 22, 2014, at a pickup
point in Berlin, Maryland, where she was scheduled to meet a victim of a
lottery scheme.Instead, Armistead was
arrested by police at the pickup point after being handed the money by an
undercover officer.

“The Justice Department is committed to combatting
international lottery fraud schemes,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney
General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil
Division.“Conspiring to launder money
is a serious crime because it hides other criminal activity and its success
encourages fraudsters to continue their schemes.The Justice Department will continue to
prosecute those who seek to conceal criminal activity through money
laundering.”

An information charging Armistead with conspiracy to commit
money laundering was filed on Sept. 7.According to the charging document, Armistead agreed with other persons
to knowingly conduct a financial transaction that involved the proceeds of
unlawful activity, knowing that the property involved in the transaction
represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity and knowing that the
transaction was designed to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source,
ownership and control of the proceeds of the unlawful activity.The government was not required to prove that
Armistead knew the details of the fraud, but the government did need to
establish that Armistead believed the money was connected to an illegal
activity.

In this case, the money was proceeds of a fraudulent lottery
fraud scheme, involving a co-conspirator in the United States and another in
Jamaica.As part of the scheme, a victim
was falsely told that she had won a multi-million dollar lottery prize.To collect the prize, the victim was
fraudulently instructed to pay taxes and other up-front fees.The victim then sent money to various
individuals, including the $40,000 that Armistead ultimately received.

“The US Postal Inspection Service is dedicated as part of it
mission to ensure that these types of predatory schemes are investigated
aggressively,” said U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Antonio J. Gomez of the
Miami Division.“It is imperative that
we continue to work with our partners to protect those vulnerable individuals
in our society who fall prey to these schemes so that the U.S. mail isn't used
in furtherance of them.”

“This investigation is another example of the importance of
state, federal and local law enforcement coordination to identify and dismantle
a complex and cross-border criminal enterprise,” said Maryland State Police
Superintendent Colonel William Pallozzi.“The dedicated efforts of troopers, federal agents and prosecutors,
deputies, and local police officers ended an illegal operation.”

Armistead faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in
prison and a fine of $500,000 when she is sentenced on Dec. 22 at 2 p.m.

This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s
effort to work with federal and local law enforcement to combat fraudulent lottery
schemes in Jamaica that prey on American citizens.According to the U.S. Postal Inspection
Service, Americans have lost tens of millions of dollars to fraudulent foreign
lotteries.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mizer and U.S.
Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein for the District of Maryland commended the
investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security and the Maryland State Police.The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney
David A. Frank and Counsel Melanie Singh of the Civil Division’s Consumer
Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan T. Shea.